Christmas Conversations
by Handwithquill
Summary: Space Wrapped Prompt: "Jim is a Christmas "elf" who works for Santa delivering presents to his assigned quadrant. And every year he has a nice Christmas Eve conversation with Joanna who keeps wishing for the perfect gift for her papa As she gets older, Joanna realizes that the perfect gift for her daddy is someone to love him. Jim agrees."


**Title:**Christmas Conversations. **  
Author:**HandwithQuill**  
Rating:**PG-13**  
Warnings:**Modern AU, Fluff.**  
Word Count:**7836**  
Summary:**Prompt was that "Jim is a Christmas elf who "works" for Santa delivering presents to his assigned quadrant. And every year he has a nice Christmas Eve conversation with Joanna who keeps wishing for the perfect gift for her papa (total Nice List behavior). As she gets older, Joanna realizes that the perfect gift for her daddy is someone to love and take care of him and Jim, smitten with the other McCoy, can't help but agree."**  
**

** A/N:** I hope this fits what the prompter wanted. It was beta-d by ken_ichijouji over on LJ. Thank you _SO_ much. I tinkered with it after she gave it back, so any mistakes are mine. Also, Lame title is lame.

* * *

Jim pulled his scarf tighter as he stepped out of the house. Winter in the northeast really wasn't colder then back home in Iowa, but the wind always seemed to find a way though all his clothes. The last of his houses in this town were located next to a park that had a promenade that followed the curve of the Delaware River. He walked along it, looking out for patches of ice, enjoying the nip in the air, before pulling out his phone.

He smiled as he saw the address listed as his next destination. He looked around, then took a device out of his pocket, concentrated on where he wanted to go, hitched his backpack higher, and pushed the button.

The first thing he did upon reappearing was take off the scarf. The temperature here in Georgia was much warmer then where he had been. Looking around to get his bearings, he crossed the suburban street and made his way to the address on his phone. He wasn't supposed to, but ever since this house appeared on his list four years ago, it was one of his favorites. The inside was always decorated in an old-fashioned homey way and always smelled of baked goods. It reminded him of the pictures Sam showed him of how his parents used to decorate before he was born, before his dad died.

He shook that thought away and bound up the step. Taking out the same device, he held it up to the side of the door, where he knew the alarm panel was located. He pressed the button again and waited for it to beep and let him know it was safe to enter.

Jim's smile faltered a little as he stepped through the door. The decorating, what little of it there was, seemed perfunctory. The tree was in the den where it usually was, the stockings were hanging off the stairwell railing, and a few cards hung between them. And the air, it didn't smell of baked goods. There was something in it that after a minute of deep breaths, Jim identified as antiseptic.

He took out his phone and double checked the address. But it told him that, yes this was still the home of the McCoys.

Letting the empty backpack slide off his shoulder, he made his way over to the tree and knelt down in front of it.

He loved this part.

Grasping the zipper, he slowly opened the bag. Out of his pocket he pulled a small velvet pouch. Pouring a little of the contents onto his hand, he blew it gently over the bag. The insides sparkled and crackled a little, and the corner of a wrapped box poked out of the top.

Box after box was pulled out of the small bag and placed under the tree.

"You're not Santa!"

Jim spun from where he was arranging the presents to see a little girl staring at him. He couldn't see which Disney princess was on her lilac nightgown as her arms were crossed, squishing the giant stuffed Eeyore she was holding to her chest. Her brown hair had been in pigtails, but was mussed up from sleep and her lips were set in a frown and one of her eyebrows was raised.

She was adorable.

Joanna McCoy, a few months from turning four years old, and the reason Jim was there.

"Hi," he said quietly, not wanting to wake her parents. "And no, I'm not. I just work for him." He tried not to laugh as she just cocked her head to the side and raised the eyebrow higher. "Really, I can prove it. That." he pointed to the Eeyore, "was a present last year. It was _so big_ I could hardly get it out of my bag." He pointed to the bag next to him. "He wasn't wrapped, but had a purple bow on his head and a note pinned to him that said he was extra sad and needed l_ots _of hugs."

As he spoke, Joanna's eyes widened and her mouth dropped, even as she nodded. Mid nod, she frowned. "If you're not Santa, who are you and why isn't Santa delivering the presents?"

"My name is Jim. And he is, but do you know how _big_ the world is?" Jim held his hands out, moving them in a rough circle. She looked confused. "Um..do your parents have any maps or a globe?"

Her face scrunched up as she thought. "My nightlight!"

She took a step forward and grabbed his hand. Pulling him, she ran up the stairs. The upstairs hall had four doors. The two that were closed, Jim assumed, belonged to the adults. The end of the hall was the bathroom and the last door was the one she pulled him into. She let go of his hand and jumped onto her bed. The room was lit with a soft glow from the nightlight on her bedside table. A nightlight that was a globe.

"Okay, so Santa lives at the north pole." He tapped the top of the globe. She nodded. He slowly spun the globe with his fingers. "Think about how long it would take to go to _every single house _in one night, even being as awesome as Santa is. That's a lot of houses."

She nodded solemnly.

"Right now it's two in the morning and," He glanced at his phone, "Santa is in England." he pointed to the country. She looked up at him, eyes wide, mouth open. He smiled at her. "but there are a lot of houses that still need to be visited. Santa needs help delivering the rest of the presents, so he hires people like me to help," he said, spinning the nightlight so that the U.S. was showing. "We each get a group of people to deliver to. I go to the houses of children on the East cost," He ran a finger up the cost. "That are four years old and younger."

He stopped there. Three years old was to young to understand the other factors that limited the houses he was assigned.

"I have to go finish downstairs, and you should probably go back to sleep." She wiggled into her covers, pulling another doll close. "Night, youngling."

He checked the hall before making his way back down. Retrieving his bag he moved to the stockings. He filled Joanna's first, then moved on to the adults. He was reaching for the last one, when a face appearing in between the railing made him jump.

"You should be asleep."

She nodded, then bit her lip.

"If you're delivering the presents, can I ask for something?"

"I don't make the presents, Joanna," he told her hesitantly. "I just put them under the tree."

She nodded again. "It's for Daddy."

"Oh?"

"Can you give him something really, really, _really_ special? Something to make him not sad anymore?"

"Why is he sad?" Her eyes moved from him to the room across from the Den.

Jim peaked into the room, on his last few visits, it was the dinning room. Now the table was folded up and it and the chairs were pushed to the wall. The space in front of the window was taken up by a hospital bed. An empty hospital bed.

"GrandPa," was all that she said as she took his hand and leaned against him.

"Oh, Sweetling." He knelt down. "There's nothing I can do. Not even Santa could do anything."

"But Daddy's sad! And he has bad dreams."

"Bad dreams?"

"Uh-huh. It wakes me up. And he wants GrandPa."

"Bad dreams." Jim said again, thinking. Spock would complain about the unnecessary use, but the Head Elf complained about everything. "Okay, now we have to be _very_ quiet. Show me which room is your parents'."

She pulled him back up stairs. Understandably it was the room closes to hers. Putting his finger to his mouth, he eased the door open. The streetlights coming in the window gave enough light to keep him from bumping into anything.

Looking at the two people sleeping on the bed, Jim frowned. The blond woman on the left was laying stiffly on her side, facing away from her husband. The man, though, was laying on his back. One arm over his head, the other at his side. And by his restless movements, he was in the middle of a bad dream.

"...em..Dad, please... I can't, don't ask,..." he mumbled and jerked in his sleep. His arm slid off his face and the light illuminated his features. His eyes opened in sleep and he seemed to look straight at Jim. "Please?"

Jim took a startled step back. But the hazel eyes just closed and the restless movement continued. Jim couldn't help thinking that, even though the man was distressed, he was good looking. He shook his head to get rid of the guilty thought and looked down at Joanna. She was biting her lip and looked like she was about to cry.

He knelt down and motioned her over. When she was close, he pulled out the little velvet bag. Taking her hand, he poured a very little into her palm and closed the hand.

"Think of happy things" he whispered to her. "Things that you think of when you're sad to make you feel better." She nodded and her face scrunched again in thought. Jim poured some into his own hand; he hadn't given her enough to do much, as the powder was powerful. "Okay, got them?" She nodded. "Now sprinkle the powder on your Daddy's forehead."

She did so. Jim sprinkled his own handful, concentrating to make sure that the man's dreams would be lighter for at least a little while. The powder glittered there for a second, before the man let out a sigh and relaxed. Joanna started bouncing and Jim put his finger to his lips again as they hurried out of the room.

"Thank you!" She launched herself at him. He caught her and picked her up to take her back into her room. Placing her in bed again, he tucked her in.

"You're welcome. Now I really need to get back to work."

"Night." She snuggled into her pillow.

"Good night, Joanna." He slipped out of the room and went back to work.

* * *

The next year Joanna was asleep on the couch. A pink blanket tucked around her and Eeyore being used as a pillow. Once again, he had finished putting the presents out and was arranging them under the tree when she startled him.

"You're here!"

He turned to look at her even as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.

"Of course, I am. Unless...you don't want presents this year."

"I do! I was waiting for you. Can you help me with Daddy's present again this year? GrandMa help me get it, but I want it to look pretty, like those." She pointed to the presents he had placed under the tree.

He didn't know what the Gnomes in the Wrapping Department did, but the presents he delivered always had an extra shine. He also wondered if they knew this would happen. When he was given the bag this year, there was some wrapping paper in the front pocket and a note saying he would know when to use it.

"Okay." he said. Her smile lit up the room. She jumped off the couch and tugged him up the stairs into her room. Once there, she all but dove under her bed and pulled out a box.

"Here." She thrust it at him. "GrandMa says Daddy will love it."

He opened the thin box and took out the contents. It was a tri-fold picture frame. The middle picture was one of Joanna, a professional one from a studio. The other two pictures were candids. The one on the left made him smile. It was obviously taken this past Halloween.

Joanna was wearing a lab coat over a small set of scrubs. A pint sized stethoscope hung around her neck and her treat bag was in the shape of a doctor's bag. That was cute enough, but she was holding her father's hand. Her father who was dressed as a skeleton.

The other picture made Jim's heart skip a beat. It was taken during the summer. Joanna was in a t-shirt and shorts and sitting on her father's lap. She was leaning back into him and smiling at the camera. Whoever had taken the picture had waited until her father had looked down at her. The look on the elder McCoy's face held nothing more then complete devotion and love.

"Yeah," he told the little girl. "Your father will love it." He put the frame back in the box. Pulling the wrapping paper out of his bag, he helped her wrap the box. "I'll take it downstairs and put it under the tree. You are going to get into bed."

"Okay, see you next year. Merry Christmas, Jim!" He blinked at her, but knew in his heart that he would have spoken to Spock to be able to deliver her presents next year anyway.

"Merry Christmas, Joanna." He smiled and took the box downstairs.

* * *

The following year, Joanna managed to stay awake waiting for him to show up. He dropped the bag as a teary eyed five year old ran into his arms.

"Jim!"

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Ev-ery-th-thing!" She sobbed. He held her as she cried. Taking a risk, he picked her up and took her into the kitchen. After a quick look around he found and fixed them both a cup of Hot Chocolate. She stopped crying and poked at the marshmallows.

"What's wrong, sweetling?" he asked again. She sniffled once before answering.

"Daddy's gone."

"What? Where-" Remembering the look on the man's face in the picture last year, he couldn't imagine the man abandoning his daughter. "What happened?"

One tiny shoulder shrugged.

"Mommy and Daddy were yelling a lot. Then Daddy left! A couple of days later Mommy's friend, Mr. Clay moved in. Mommy says I have to live here with her and Mr. Clay now. I don't want to! I want Daddy. I miss my Daddy!"

Tears were shining in her eyes again, so Jim pulled her into his lap. She pressed her face into his shoulder as the tears came. He rubbed her back and just held her. She cried herself to sleep and Jim put her to bed.

After that, he quickly made his way back downstairs. Took out his phone and hit the first speed dial as he put out presents.

_"James. You should not be calling. I believe you are behind schedule."_

"It'll be find, Spock. I need an address."

_"An address?"_

"Yeah, of a Dr. Leonard McCoy."

"_How is that information pertinent? The child resides at the address you are currently at."_

"Come on, Spock, just give it to me." There was a deep sigh on the other end and his phone beeped that it had a message. "Thanks Spock. I knew Uhura would be good for you!"

_"Your persistence that Miss Uhura and I are in a relationship must cease. It is unseemly."_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just invite me to the wedding." His answer was another deep sigh.

_"Be careful, James. Sensors indicate that there is only one person in that residence, Dr. McCoy, one assumes, and he is still awake."_

"I will, Spock. And again, thanks."

After finishing his job, Jim looked around uneasily. He wasn't supposed to have favorites, and he most definitely wasn't suppose to involve himself in their lives, but he couldn't help himself.

He rushed thorough the rest of his deliveries and found himself in the hall outside Dr. McCoy's new apartment. He held the device he was given each year up to the door. When it read safe to enter, he pushed the button and was transported to the other side of the door.

The sparse furniture made McCoy easy to find. The Doctor wasn't so much asleep on the couch as passed out. Jim took the bottle of Bourbon out of his hand and placed it in the kitchen. The picture of Joanna he placed on the coffee table, so McCoy could see it when he woke up. He then spread the afghan from the back of the couch over McCoy and his hand hovered, before gently swiping the bangs off the Doctor's forehead.

"Hmmm...Jo..." McCoy whispered, rolling over and pulling the afghan tighter. The broken whisper broke Jim's heart.

"It'll be alright," he told the sleeping man. His eye caught Joanna's gift to her father from the year before. The two of them in their Halloween costumes. "I'll...just trust me, Bones."

He stood and pushed the button on the device once again. This time he appeared in his own apartment. Tossing the device into the bag, he threw them onto the couch. He didn't need to return them for a few days. Normally he was exhausted at this point and would sleep most of the next day. But tonight he grabbed his laptop and put his computer skills to work.

It was a few hours after sunrise that he saved everything to a flash drive and collapsed into bed.

* * *

A few days later he was in the crowded waiting room of Atlanta General. It had a little more to do with slipping on the ice outside his apartment and landing on his arm with a crack. No one needed to know that his apartment was in Iowa.

He was people watching as he waited to be called. A little girl sitting across from him was also holding her arm. He could see dried tear tracks on her cheeks. Her mother sat next to her, running a hand through her hair. Jim heard shoes squeaking on the linoleum and a man in scrubs knelt down in front of the girl.

"Hello," McCoy said to the girl. "I heard you hurt you're arm?" The girl looked at her Mother, who nodded.

She looked back at McCoy and nodded herself, holding out her arm. Her eye glistened with new tears. "Hurts."

"Aww. Well, if you come with me, I can fix that, alright?" The girl stood up and her mother collected their coats. McCoy twisted on the balls of his feet to let them pass. Jim saw the doctor catch him out of the corner of his eye and do a double take.

Jim smiled as the man's eyes traveled over him. His eyes met Jim's briefly, before they ran up and down his arm. They snapped back up to his eyes again and held. Jim did his best to keep a straight face as McCoy's eyes seemed to search his. The overhead lights showed the colors in his hazel eyes. His beard was a couple days old and he had deep purple bags under his eyes. Jim clenched his free hand to keep it from running through the man's longish hair. He wondered what the doctor saw as he flushed, cleared his throat, and ducked his head. "We should be with you shortly, sir."

Jim nodded and McCoy followed his patient behind a curtain. Jim felt his lips quirk up a little as he watched. The scrub pants were nice. About half an hour later, he saw the girl and her Mother at the reception desk. McCoy singed off on a file and picked the next one up. He flipped it open, frowned and looked out over the waiting room. His eyes met Jim's briefly before flicking away. He put the file down and asked the blond nurse at the desk a question. She shook her head and riffled through the files, pulling one out. The doctor bit his lip as he took it. But upon opening it, he nodded, and walked to one of the curtains. The nurse raised her eyebrow and picked up a clipboard.

"Mr. Kirk?" she called. He stood and walked to the desk. He answered the questions that Nurse Chapel asked and followed her to get x-rays before being settled in a curtained off bed.

"So what happened to your arm, Mr. Kirk?" McCoy asked as he slipped through the curtain.

"Oh, you know. Just a deceptively not there patch of ice. Knew something was wrong as soon as I landed. Heard the crack. But you got to love adrenaline, didn't feel the pain until I was almost here."

"Mm-hmm," he said, putting down the file he entered with. "Lets take a look." He sat on a little stool and wheeled it over. He gently took Jim's arm in his hands. "Where would you say the pain radiates from?"

Jim cocked his head, eyes flicking to the file he knew held the X-rays, and back to McCoy. He pointed to a spot mid-forearm. "About here."

McCoy started a little farther out, worked his fingers into the spot Jim indicated. Jim watched him work. After some hums of approval, he let go of Jim's arm and push off with his feet to the side table. He picked up the file. "Well, it looks like a clean break." McCoy said, holding up the x-ray. "We'll get it casted and you can be on your way."

Jim nodded. McCoy put the X-ray back in the file. Jim tried to think of something to say, but his mind was blank. McCoy stood, opened his mouth, but closed it with a head shake and walked out of the curtain. Jim smashed his good hand against his forehead. How could he not say anything! Throughout Riverside he was know for his charm and wit! And his mind blanks now?

He heard the curtain move, thinking it was some intern come to cast his arm, he didn't move.

"Something wrong, Mr. Kirk?" McCoy stood there, setting up a tray of casting materials.

"No, Bones, I'm good." McCoy raised an eyebrow. Jim bit his lip to keep from laughing. All he could think of was when he met Joanna two years ago. He smiled, shrugged his shoulder and motioned to his arm. "I thought it fit."

McCoy rolled his eyes and started casting his arm.

"So, I thought you usually made interns do this kind of stuff?"

"Usually, but with how busy we are right now, there are worse things to make them do."

"You sure you just didn't want to spend more time with me?" He fluttered his lashes when McCoy looked up. McCoy rolled his eyes and looked back down. Jim blinked because he thought he saw a pink tinge to the doctor's cheeks.

"Oh no," McCoy deadpanned. "You figured out my plan, whatever will I do now."

"Admit your undying love for me so that our epic romance can begin. We will be admired by all for the epicness of it."

McCoy snorted.

"You sure they didn't give you any painkillers in the waiting room, Kid? You sound a bit delusional." there was humor in his eyes when he looked back up. "Okay, done. The front desk will have instruction on how to take care of the cast. Make an appointment with your usual doctor for when to remove it in a few weeks." He wrote something on Jim's chart and walked him to the desk.

Chapel was still behind the desk, and gave Jim the 'care and feeding of your cast' paperwork as McCoy singed off on some more charts.

"Dr. McCoy?" Another nurse called, walking up to the desk. "This was just dropped off for you." McCoy took the thick mailing envelope. The nurse stood there eying it. The glare McCoy shot her had her scurrying away.

Jim nodded at Nurse Chapel and took his paperwork trying to not look like he was watching as McCoy pulled the strip to open it. Inside was a thick file folder. Frowning, McCoy flipped through it, his face becoming more incredulous with each page. He grabbed the envelop and looked at the senders address. With a shake of his head, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed a number in.

"Jasper, did her lawyer send over the custody agreement yet because I have something I need you to check out. If it's real we can win this!" He walked away, hugging the file to him.

Jim watched him go with a smile. "Merry Christmas, Bones."

* * *

"Jim!"

His name being shouted had him spinning around in the crowded mall. A week before Thanksgiving and the Christmas decorations had been up for weeks. Off to his right, he saw a speeding six year old barreling towards him. He thrust out his arms to stop Joanna from shooting past.

"Jim!" She bounced even as she wrapped him up in a hug. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be-" She cut off and looked around before lowering her voice. "at the North Pole?"

He laughed. "No, I only do that job on Christmas. I have another job the rest of the year. Which is why I'm here in Atlanta. My firm just opened up a office in the city, so I live here now. I'm in the mall to meet a realtor."

"Joanna Elizabeth McCoy! You get back here! You know better than to run off!"

Both looked up to see McCoy heading toward them. He picked Joanna up and propped her on his hip, keeping her half turned away from Jim. Jim smiled at him and the Doctor frowned.

"Hi, Bones!" he waved, using the arm he had broke. McCoy blinked

"Mr. Kirk?"

"Yes, and please, it's Jim. And he's right, Joanna." Jim told her. "It's not good to run off like that. You never know who's out there." He met her eyes before speaking again. "Remember what we talked about in school. Stranger Danger."

She blinked at him, and Jim could see her trying to figure out what he meant, before her eyes darted over to her father. She nodded. "But you're not a stranger, Mr. Jim."

"Not to you, but your father doesn't know me. Well, not well. And he didn't know why you ran off, where you were going."

"You work in Jo's school?" McCoy asked him.

"I volunteer in schools teaching awareness programs. It's something my firm has supported for years." He glanced at his watch, "I'm sorry but I really have to go. I can't miss this appointment with the relator. Trying to find an apartment on my own in this city has been difficult, and I don't want to be living in a hotel during the holidays."

"How many bedrooms do you need? There's a one bedroom on the floor under us available." McCoy blinked, cheeks flushing, as he realized what he said. Joanna's eyes darted from her father to Jim as they just stared at each other. Finally, Jim shook himself out of McCoy's gaze.

"I'll mention that. Where is it?" He repeated the address of the apartment building as if hearing it for the first time, then hurried to the realtor's office. He couldn't help the smile on his lips as he looked back and saw that McCoy was still watching him.

* * *

"No. You need to twist your end up and to the right. That'll make enough room to get it in." Bones said as he struggled with his end of the couch. "This is the largest piece of furniture you have, right?"

"Yes," Jim groaned. He maneuvered the way Bones said. And with a few more twists and grunts, they got the couch inside the apartment without damaging the leather, the door frame, or the hallway.

"Where do you want this, Jim? Because I'm not picking it up again after I put it down."

"Against the wall. Over there." He nodded with his head. They eased it down, and Jim flopped onto it. Bones sat down next to him. He leaned forward, stretching his back. Jim stretched his own neck and when he turned his head, he saw that Bones was looking at him. The man had rested an elbow on a knee, his chin on his closed fist and was watching Jim.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, a corner of his mouth lifting in a smile. "Come on. The mattress is the only bulky thing left." He held out his hand and pulled Jim up. Bones opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head and let go of Jim's hand.

Jim followed him out of the apartment, and they made quick work of the last of Jim's furniture and the boxes that mostly held books. Jim looked around the living room. It would take awhile to get everything unpacked and he really didn't feel like doing it tonight. He turned to McCoy. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat. Come on upstairs. Christine will have Jo for awhile yet." They made their way upstairs and into Bones' apartment. Jim glanced around a little, trying to make it seem like it was his first time there. He moved to the mantle and picked up the framed photos that Jo had given Bones two Christmas' ago. "I have some leftovers reheating in the oven," McCoy came out of the kitchen. Jim held up the frame.

"Looks like I was right to call you Bones." Bones took the frame from him, trailed a fingertip down the pictured Joanna and put it back. "You been here long?" He waved around the apartment.

"Just-Just about a year." The timer on the oven buzzed and they went into the kitchen. "Things had been strained between me and the Ex for awhile," Bones pulled a pan out of the oven and nodded to a cabinet. Jim pulled plates out and set the table. "Ever since my dad passed away really." He dished out two servings, and they started eating. "We had been arguing a lot. And I think I knew it was over, but," He shook his head. "I think I felt obligated to try, to fight to make it work. More for Jo then for me. I actually felt relieved when Jocelyn told me about Clay. Though she did kick me out that night."

He looked around the kitchen, a smile on his face. "For some reason I feel this place is lucky though. It's a good place and not only did I find it so quickly, it had two bedrooms and I was determined that Jocelyn wouldn't keep me out of Jo's life. She tried, but..." He shook his head again. "I still don't know how, but just after Christmas last year, the day you were in the ER actually, I got some information that helped me win custody of Joanna."

"That's good. Does she still see her mom?"

"Joce has scheduled visits, but she's in the Caribbean right now on her honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?" Jim paused mid-bite. "Already?"

Bones nodded his head with a snort. "Yeah." He took a sip of his water. "Some people say it's too soon, but like I said, we both knew it was over for a while. And..." He trailed off, looking at Jim. "Maybe it's time for me to start looking as well."

"Maybe." Jim said.

* * *

Jim stuffed the transporter device into his pocket after he appeared in Bones' apartment. Joanna was sleeping on the couch, two cooling mugs of Hot Chocolate on the coffee table. He pulled the two gifts that he had retrieved from his apartment out of his bag, before using the powder on the empty backpack. He added his present to Bones under the tree, before taking the mugs into the kitchen to reheat them.

Once back in the living room, he woke Joanna up. He took the end of her long hair and used it to tickle her nose. Her face scrunched up and she turned her head.

"Joanna, Wake up," he singsonged. "I'll take the presents back."

"You're mean, Jim." She pouted, blinking awake.

"I'm mean? If I was so mean, would I be letting you open a present tonight?"

"Really?" she asked as she pushed herself upright on the couch.

"Uh-huh. It's a special present, and I need to do something to it that Bones can't see." He handed her the box on the coffee table. He watched her test the weight, before she tore open the wrapping and eagerly untied the string keeping the box closed.

"A snow globe?" She pulled it out of the box. Gazing in the crystal, She frowned. "There's nothing in it."

"Not yet." Jim told her, pulling the velvet pouch out of his pocket. He guided her to place the globe on the table and placed her hands around the glass. "Imagine the most perfect winter scene you can think of. No matter what it is, or how detailed. Just see it as clearly as you can in your head."

She contemplated him for a moment, biting her lip, then closed her eyes. Jim poured the last of the powder into his hand and blew it gently over both her and the snow globe. It sparkled and crackled as it did its magic. When it settled, he told her to open her eyes.

They both leaned closer to look in the snow globe. A house sat on the edge of a forest. Off to the side was a barn. In the corral, tiny horses stomped their feet in the snow before heading back into the barn.

"It's GrandMa's farm." Jim nodded. He thought it looked a little familiar. Bones had shown him pictures.

"Is it want you wanted?" he asked. But she kept staring at it, lip clenched between her teeth. "Jo?"

"There!" Her finger pointed to the tiny porch as the front door opened. Jim squinted to see a little version of Jo skip down the steps only to run back up them and drag two adults down into the snow with her. Jim quickly identified the dark haired man as Bones.

He was too engrossed in watching the mini father and daughter play in the snow that he ignored the other person. Until mini!Bones was hit in the back of the head with a snowball, and turned to face his attacker. The look on his face was one Jim had becoming very acquainted with in the month and a half he had live a floor down. He turned his attention to the other person, jaw dropping.

"Jo? Is-is that me?"

"Of course," she said, eyes never leaving the action in the globe.

A snowball fight had broken out between Mini!Bones and Mini!Jim. Mini!Joanna joining in with whatever adult she was closest to. It ended when Mini!Joanna and Mini!Bones ganged up and brought Mini!Jim to the ground and shoved snow in his pants and shirt. Mini!Jim jumped up and ran inside. Mini!Bones and Mini!Joanna made their way back to the porch, and by the time they got there, Mini!Jim was back with a blanket and a tray of little, bitty mugs. The three sat on the porch swing, wrapped up in the blanket, Mini!Joanna snuggled between Mini!Bones and Mini!Jim.

"It's perfect!" she said with a decisive nod of her head. Jim looked back between her and the snow globe. He watched how Mini!Bones' arm on the back of the swing seemed to be playing in Mini!Jim's hair.

"Yeah," he sighed, swallowing hard. "It is."

* * *

Jim let himself into Bones' apartment with the spare key he was given and walked into the middle of an argument between Bones and Joanna.

"But I don't want _you_ to!" The seven-year-old whined.

"Jo, I don't have time for this. Jim will be here to Babysit you soon, I have to meet Christine." Bones picked up gray suit coat and shrugged it on. It was tailored just right, as was the pants. He had left the top buttons of the white dress shirt open and Jim could just see the chain of the necklace he always wore. Swallowing, Jim forced his attention to Joanna.

"No!"

"Jo, you know I don't really want to go to the Hospital's Christmas dinner, but I have to." Bones pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's really bothering you?

"I don't want you to go with Christine!"

Bones blinked, "I thought you liked Christine?"

"I _do_," Joanna said, with a stamp of her foot. "But I don't want you to _date_ her!"

"It's not a date. Christine and I are just friends."

"That's what Mommy always said about Clay!" Joanna yelled, before running down the hall and slamming the door to her room.

"Damn it!" Bones muttered, running his hand through his hair, before bracing his hands on his hips. Looking up, he met Jim's eyes. "I don't think that went well."

"Don't worry about it, Bones." Jim dropped his messenger bag on an armchair. "I'll talk to her. You need to go or you'll be late. Tell Christine I said Hi."

"Yeah. If I'm lucky, I'll be home by eleven. Dinner's in the fridge, I'll have my phone on-"

"I'll call. If she stubs her toe, the building burns down, there's a meteor strike, or if the earth loses gravity, I'll call.

"Smart-ass. And not if she stubs her toe. I know even your medical knowledge can handle that."

"Of course. A judicious application of ice cream. Go, we'll be fine."

"Baby Girl, I'm going." Bones called down the hall. There was no answer. He sighed, nodded at Jim, and left.

Jim locked the door behind him, then ventured down the hall and knocked on Jo's door.

"Jo? Can I come in?" There was no answer, but he slowly turned the knob. Joanna was sitting against her headboard, knees drawn up. In her hands, she cradled the snow globe. Jim sat on the bed and looked at it.

Mini!Joanna and Mini!Jim were making snow angels. Mini!Bones was leaning on the porch railing, watching with an indulgent smile.

"He's going to ruin everything."

"Jo." Jim sighed.

"You agreed!" she said, thrusting the snow globe at him.

"I know." He looked wistfully at the three people inside the snow globe, Mini!Jo was still making snow angels, but Mini!Jim was now on the porch swing with Mini!Bones. This time Mini!Jim very much curled up to Mini!Bones' side. Even as he watched, they turned towards each other and shared a kiss. He wondered what Real Bones' lips felt like and clenched his hands to keep from touching his mouth. "But us wanting it, doesn't mean your father will. Bones being happy is more important.

"He's happy with you! Ever since you moved in downstairs, Daddy's been happier. And you're always here! Or we're in your apartment. Why can't he date you instead of Christine?"

"He's not dating Christine. She's engaged. Her fiance is out of town this week, so she and your father have gone to the dinner together as _friends._"

"Friends," she said with more bitterness then a seven-year old should have. "Mommy and Clay were just _friends_ and now he's my step-dad."

"Come on," He took the snow globe out her hands and placed it on the shelf above her bed. "Let's go make dinner, then we can start decorating this place. Christmas is in two weeks and you don't even have a tree. How am I going to deliver presents if there's not a tree to put them under?"

"Daddy said we were going to get one this weekend. Will you come with us?"

"If I can. I have to go pick up my supplies and get my updated delivery list."

"Am I still on it?"

"Of course!" Jim tugged her out of her room and into the kitchen where he threw together a meal.

Afterward, while she was washing the dishes, he took the decorations down from the hall closet, and they spent the rest of the night decorating. Once done, they flopped on the couch and found a Christmas special marathon. Jo fell asleep in the middle of the third one. Jim woke her up just long enough to get ready for bed.

When she was tucked into her own bed, Jim sat down at the coffee table and took a few files out of his messenger bad that he needed to finish up for his 'real' job. He worked on them for a while, keeping half an ear for any noise coming from Jo's room, and looked up startled when the door knob jingled. A glance at the clock told him it was quarter to midnight.

The deadbolt turned and Bones opened the door. Jim smiled in greeting but Bones just stood there. He kept his hand on the knob and met Jim's eyes. After a few seconds, Jim's smile faltered.

"Bones?" The Doctor didn't say anything. Just shut the door, lock it, and walked into the kitchen. Jim heard glass clinking before Bones came out with a tumbler of bourbon and flopped down on the couch. Jim pushed out from under the coffee table and joined him on the couch. "Long night? Was it worse then you thought it would be?"

Bones took a sip and rolled it around in his mouth before swallowing and shook his head. "No, just as boring as ever. Only stayed awake by trading snarky comments with Christine." He motioned around the room, "Nice job on the decorating."

He turned his head and met Jim's eyes again. They held the stare for a while, Bones searching for something. Jim let him look, enjoying the time to be able to watch the colors shift in Bones' eyes as he searched for whatever he was looking for. Jim didn't know if he found what he was looking for when Bones sighed and took another sip from his glass.

"Bones, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Jim. Just had an interesting conversation with Christine." He gulped the last mouthful of bourbon.

"Everything okay? Anything you want to talk about?"

He turned the searching look back on Jim. "No. No, I think that won't be necessary."

"Oh, well, you look exhausted, so I'll get out of your way." He stared packing up and had looped the strap of his bag over his head, when he felt a hand on his arm stop him.

Bones bit his lip and took a step closer.

"Are-are you doing anything on Friday?"

"No,"

"Do you want to go to dinner?"

"Dinner with you and Jo? Sure!" He shrugged. Bones stopped biting his lip and broke out in a room brightening smile.

"No," he said softly, taking a step closer. "Not with me and Jo. Just me."

"Just...just you? Like-" He swallowed. "Like a...Date?"

"Yeah, like a date." They each took a step closer. "Will you go out on a date with me on Friday, Jim?"

"Yeah," Jim breathed into his lips just before they met. Both of their lips were dry, but neither cared as heads tilted and lips met again. And again. Jim dropped his bag and stepped even closer, his arms coming up to wrap around Bones' shoulders. When Bones' tongue flicked at his mouth, he opened it and returned the kiss. Bones fell onto the couch and Jim straddled him, mouths sealed until breathing became necessary. Jim rested his forehead against Bones' as they gasped for breath.

"Damn, Jim."

"I know, Bones. You will _never_ guess how long I've wanted to do that."

"I think I can imagine." Bones laughed. Jim shook his head with a smile and leaned in for another kiss. Bones met his lips quickly, then pulled back. "Jim, Jo's down the hall."

"Right." He sighed as he got up off of Bones' lap. "I'll, uh, see you Friday?" He picked up his bag, and stared for the door. Once again, Bones' hand stopped him.

"I didn't say you had to go, Jim. I'm not saying anything is going to happen. Actually I'm pretty sure it won't, and you'll need to leave before Jo gets up to not confuse her, but," He took Jim's bag off his shoulder, "You could stay tonight."

"Oh, O-okay" Jim knew his eyes were wide, but he couldn't think as Bones smiled and pulled him down the hall. Both men were quiet as they stripped down to t-shirts and boxers and slipped into Bones' queen sized bed. Laying on their backs next to each other was slightly awkward and Jim turned his head to look at Bones, wondering if he felt it too. Their eyes met and both broke out laughing.

"Come here, Darlin'." Bones said, reaching out to pull Jim closer. Jim rolled over and pressed himself against Bones' side, resting his head on Bones' shoulder and entangling their legs. Bones wrapped one arm across his waist and let the other one rest against the back of his head. He pressed a kiss to Jim's forehead. "Night, Jim."

"Night, Bones." he whispered, wondering if Bones could hear the sheer joy her felt right then in those two words.

* * *

Jim froze when he entered the living room. The soft glow from the fireplace showed a man asleep on the couch, blanket tangled around his legs and a book slipping out of his hand. Jim caught the book before it could thump onto the floor, then set to work.

He filled the four stockings first, before moving to the tree. He stopped briefly to admire reflection of the tree's light in the window and the way the snow falling outside mixed with them.

When he was finished arranged the presents under the tree to be picture perfect, he stood, stretching his back and looking back at the couch. The man had rolled onto his back and Jim untangled the blanket from his legs before easing into the space between Bones and the back of the couch and spread the blanket over them.

"'im?" Bones sleepily questioned, his arms coming up around Jim. "What time is it?"

"Almost five."

"Oh, going back to sleep." Jim smiled into Bones' chest, before drifting off himself.

He knew it was later when he felt eyes on him. Peeling his eyes open, he met those of the child staring at them.

"Presents now?" Their four year old son, David, asked.

"No," Bones' eyes cracked open. "Go back to bed or Jim will put them back in the bag."

"Come on, Daddy, you can't keep using that" Joanna's voice rang out from the stairs. "But anyway, come on, squirt." The fifteen year old scooped up her little brother. "We'll go make breakfast and maybe they'll wake up. Especially if we brew the magic elixir called coffee."

"I knew there was a reason I kept you." Bones commented, arm flapping in Jo's direction. Then he rolled to face Jim. "Morning." He trailed his left hand down Jim's face.

Smiling Jim wiggled his own hand out from between them and interlaced their fingers, their rings clinking. "Merry Christmas, Bones."

"Merry Christmas, Jim," Bones whispered, leaning in for a kiss, before they joined their family in the kitchen.


End file.
